"The Mariposa Site: A Late Prehistoric Site on the Rio Grande Plain of " by John L. Montgomery

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Article Title

The Mariposa Site: A Late Prehistoric Site on the Rio Grande Plain of Texas

Authors

John L. Montgomery, Center for Archaeological Research

Agency

Center for Archaeological Research

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21112/ita.1978.1.19

Abstract

This study of the results of archaeological survey and excavation at the Mariposa site is a contribution to three levels of the discipline. As a pioneering report of detailed excavation data from south Texas, it is a contribution by way of a substantial start on filling in a gap which has existed in regional cultural history. While this is an elementary contribution, it is just the sort of fundamental effort which we are discovering must yet be done in many geographic areas of the United States. The fundamental, detailed examination of the archaeological record in North America is far from complete. Happily, with public support, via legislation, the threatened segments of the archaeological record are now receiving much more serious and systematic attention than ever before. We can confidently look forward to a period of massive recovery and interpretation of large segments of the unexplored record of the past. The second contribution of this study is in the form of a sophisticated attempt to further our understanding or interpretation of evidence from the prehistoric past. The definition, comparison and testing of a lithic technology model (or theory) has moved our understanding of this general aspect of prehistoric people forward, perceptibly. Thirdly, by using the concepts of objective and operation explicitly as means of organizing the writing of this study, Montgomery has taken a significant step into the future of explicitly operational archaeology. Although of limited application here, these concepts have had in important guiding function in his report preparation and the all-important final step of the research process--communication.